El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Short Interest Update

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,820,000 shares, a decrease of 16.5% from the February 28th total of 2,180,000 shares. Approximately 7.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 222,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.2 days.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of El Pollo Loco stock remained flat at $10.42 on Wednesday. The company had a trading volume of 141,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,288. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. El Pollo Loco has a 1 year low of $8.17 and a 1 year high of $14.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.09. The firm has a market cap of $310.28 million, a P/E ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 1.35.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $114.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. As a group, analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LOCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on El Pollo Loco in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Biglari Sardar lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 307.7% in the 3rd quarter. Biglari Sardar now owns 489,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,703,000 after purchasing an additional 369,247 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 372.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 70,409 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 55,510 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 453,422 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,232,000 after acquiring an additional 159,000 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in El Pollo Loco by 89.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 84,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 39,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 411,298 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,635,000 after acquiring an additional 75,542 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc, develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. It operates and franchises restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Louisiana. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines.